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(Lev Grossman writes about books here on Wednesdays. Subscribe to his RSS feed.)
The other day I was reading a book review on a blog. The review was of a literary novel by a well-known writer. The review made the argument that while many people believed that the book in question rocked, those people were wrong, because the book actually sucked.
I took some satisfaction from this review, because I thought it was true. I, too, thought that the book sucked.
But not surprisingly, the post had a lively trail of comments below it, and some of the commenters disagreed with the reviewer. They loved the book, it made them laugh and cry, it changed their whole lives, it did in fact rock.
These people were, of course, wrong.
(MORE: The All-TIME 100 Novels)
Usually at times like that I work up a nice head of righteous anger and superiority — because I'm so much better at judging the value of a book than those commenters are! —but this time I just felt tired. I didn't have the energy to get worked up. I could not actually reach into these people's brains and prove that they were wrong: that they had not loved the book, that they had laughed and cried for reasons that were invalid, that their whole sucky-book-liking lives had not been changed.
Because of course all that stuff was true. They had loved, laughed, cried, etc. Their reasons were valid. They weren't wrong, they were right. Or at least as right as I was.
It's a basic but still weird fact about books that two people's experiences of the same book can be radically different but equally valid. On the face of it it doesn't seem possible. When we read a book and find that it sucks, that doesn't feel like a personal judgment on our part, it feels like an observed fact that everybody else who reads that book should acknowledge — and if they don't acknowledge it, that means that they suck. It goes against our instincts as a reader that two people can have opposite reactions to a book, and that both reactions can be true.
I'm not the first person to point this out, obviously, not by a long chalk. There are whole fields of thought built on it. Kant wrote about it in his Critique of Judgement in 1790—he pointed out the weird way in which our response to a work of art, while intensely personal, feels like it's universally and objectively true. Kant puts it better: "In all judgements by which we describe anything as beautiful, we allow no one to be of another opinion." If Kant had lived just a couple of centuries longer, he would have had the Internet to show him just how right he was. (You can see the New York Times struggling with the same issue in this rather contemporary-feeling clipping from 1881. And then of course there's the entirety of reader-response criticism. So yes: I'm not first to market with this brilliant insight.)
I only bring it up now because I actually think that before the Internet it used to be easier to operate as if all this weren't the case. It was easier to pretend that literary judgments were stable and universal. Before the Internet opinions about books were a relatively scarce commodity in our culture, and they came from a relatively small group of sources. We didn't have access to hot and cold running book reviews twenty-four seven, and therefore we weren't exposed to millions and millions of passionately held, diametrically opposed opinions about books. The wild diversity of readerly responses was not all up in your grill all the time. You went to school, and somebody told you that The Great Gatsby was a masterpiece, and if you didn't like it, well, something was wrong with you, not it.
Now we have the benefit of the 94 one-star reviews that The Great Gatsby has received on Amazon. ("I found this book to be very boring and not very informative." "Honestly, he had it coming." Etc.) Not to mention the 28,966 one-star reviews it has on GoodReads.
Not that things were better in the old days; in fact it was horribly oppressive. But post-Amazon and GoodReads, it's much harder to maintain a stable, abstract idea of what literary value or greatness or what-have-you means — not in the face of all those stars. Personally I like The Great Gatsby, but if I wanted to make the case that my opinion about it was more valid or significant than those one-star reviews, I'm not sure how I'd go about it. "Personally" is about all that's left.
It's liberating in some ways, but it's also a difficult thing to admit. The idea of some kind of objectively constant, universal literary value is seductive. It feels real. It feels like a stone cold fact that In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust, is better than A Shore Thing, by Snooki. And it may be; Snooki definitely has more one-star reviews on Amazon. But if literary value is real, no one seems to be able to locate it or define it very well. We're increasingly adrift in a grey void of aesthetic relativism.
It's also weird how little the way we talk about books reflects this. We tend to go on and on at each other as if GoodReads, and for that matter Kant, never existed. As Laura Miller recently pointed out in Salon, even judges of major literary prizes (and I've judged them too) rarely make a serious attempt to articulate their criteria for literary greatness. It's just assumed to be out there. There used to be a lot more talk about that: such questions are, or used to be, part of a branch of philosophy called aesthetics (that's the discipline that Critique of Judgement belongs to). But I'm not even sure if aesthetics exists anymore. In grad school I was informed, thunderously, by a philosophy professor, that aesthetics is now a dead field, and has been ever since Theodor Adorno's Aesthetic Theory, which was the last great work of aesthetics ever. (And yeah, that book would just about kill anything.)
I'm not completely sure that's true — cf reader-response criticism, Roland Barthes' marvelous The Pleasure of the Text, and a whole lot of books I've never read and have never heard of but which you probably have.
But either way I feel like there should be more talk about the criteria by which we make literary judgments. More and more books are being published every year, but we have less of an idea than ever (what with aesthetics being dead, or at least resting) how to filter and sort and organize and canonize them, or even whether we should. Presumably the canon-making machinery is continuing to grind forward, and certain books are being assigned in college classes and reissued by the Library of America and so forth, according to the whims and desires of the canon-makers, whoever they might be (for all I know I might be one of them). But we still don't know much about why.
Short of resurrecting and solving aesthetics, the least we should do is consider trying to move beyond doing the sucks/rocks debate a million times a day on the Internet, and talk more about what it means to say that a book sucks.
Even when it totally obviously does.
MORE: We All Agree That Dickens is Awesome, Right? TIME Counts Down His Top 10 Books.


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Tell Us Your Loving the Bike Story
Are you Loving the Bike? We want to hear all about it.
Ever since we started this cycling lifestyle website (which turns 3 in just a few days), we've had a monthly feature called "Look Who's Loving the Bike". It's been our reader's chance to tell us a little story about why they love riding bikes, and there's been some fantastic responses so far.
Please share your memories, and tell us a fantastic story from your childhood or a little bit about why you are now Loving the Bike. We'll randomly post the replies over the coming months.
Send us your Loving the Bike story by filling out this form.
Have a look at what our past "Lovers" have to say: Look Who's Loving the Bike Directory

subset: commoncrawl


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Atomic Bomb Predicted Before It's Time
Written literature that predated the atomic bomb made references to man creating a weapon that could set the sky on fire.
H.G. Wells book The Time Machine written in 1895 talked about the surface of the Earth being burned by man made fire. He later wrote The World Set Free in 1914 and it clearly describes the atomic bomb.
When Did A Nuclear Bomb First Appear?
The Trinity nuclear test of the first atomic bomb was conducted on July 16, 1945. What is the date of the film that first featured a destructive weapon of on this kind of scale, and did that film predate the Trinity test?
I'm looking for the answer with the earliest film showing or discussing a bomb that can destroy a city.


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"Today President Sarkozy signaled that a number of 'lead' countries could forge ahead this year with a tiny levy on financial transactions – a Robin Hood tax – and that he is confident others will follow. Oxfam agrees with President Sarkozy that such a tax could make a massive difference in the fight against poverty and climate change. This idea is now fixed on the political agenda and opponents of it need to get with the program – there is no better alternative for doing what's right," said Oxfam GB executive director Barbara Stocking from Davos.
"Sarkozy appreciates that 2011 is the year that the G20 must finally realize its huge potential and change the bad policies and practises that have contributed to global recession, uncertainty for poor producers, increased hunger and now again to food riots and insecurity in some countries," Stocking said.
"Sarkozy's determination that the G20 should tackle commodity price volatility – most particularly in food but also in energy – is very welcome and not before time," Stocking said. "But averting a global food crisis will take more than just trying to stabilize prices. There are other profound underlying causes facing millions of small-scale farmers and poor consumers. The G20 must think big and act fast."
"Big business always say they need political certainty. Today Sarkozy gave them the certainty that the G20 is committed to properly regulate markets to ensure both growth and stability. Oxfam believes the G20 can make a fundamental difference to global poverty and inequality if the blueprint put forward by Sarkozy is embraced and supported by those with the power to make it happen," Stocking said.


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Rolling out over the next few weeks, Twitter's new design aims to simplify things a bit with four prominent tabs—Home, Connect, Discover and Me. The new look and feel will be consistent across Twitter's standard website, mobile apps and TweetDeck desktop software.
If you can't wait to try the new design yourself, "You can get early access on your computer by downloading and logging into Twitter for iPhone or Twitter for Android," according to the company's official blog post. Otherwise, check out the video above or the screenshots below for a sneak peek of what's in store.
Above images via Twitter.


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Speeches from the 2012 Presidential Campaign
Mitt Romney Campaign Address on the Economy Ames, Iowa October 26, 2012
Thank you all. It's great to be back in Iowa. And don't think that this is the last time you are going to see Paul Ryan and me, because you Iowans may well be the ones who decide what kind of America we will have, what kind of life our families will have.
The choice you make this November will shape great things, historic things, and those things will determine the most intimate and important aspects of every American life and every American family. This is an election about America, and it is an election about the American family.
All elections matter. This one matters a great deal. Over the years of our nation's history, choices our fellow citizens have made have changed the country's course--they were turning points of defining consequence.
We are at a turning point today. Our national debt and liabilities threaten to crush our future, our economy struggles under the weight of government and fails to create essential growth and employment.
At the same time, emerging powers seek to shape the world in their image--China with its model of authoritarianism and, in a very different way, Jihadists with Sharia, repression, and terror for the world.
This is an election of consequence. Our campaign is about big things, because we happen to believe that America faces big challenges. We recognize this is a year with a big choice, and the American people want to see big changes. And together we can bring real change to this country.
Four years ago, candidate Obama spoke to the scale of the times. Today, he shrinks from it, trying instead to distract our attention from the biggest issues to the smallest--from characters on Sesame Street and silly word games to misdirected personal attacks he knows are false.
The President's campaign falls far short of the magnitude of the times. And the presidency of the last four years has fallen far short of the promises of his last campaign. Four years ago, America voted for a post-partisan president, but they have seen the most political of presidents, and a Washington in gridlock because of it.
President Obama promised to bring us together, but at every turn, he has sought to divide and demonize. He promised to cut the deficit in half, but he doubled it. And his budget? It failed to win a single vote, Republican or Democrat, in either the House or the Senate. He said he would reform Medicare and Social Security and save them from pending insolvency, but he shrunk from proposing any solution at all.
And then, where are the jobs? Where are the 9 million more jobs that President Obama promised his stimulus would have created by now? They are in China, Mexico, and Canada and in countries that have made themselves more attractive for entrepreneurs and business and investment, even as President Obama's policies have made it less attractive for them here.
And so today, his campaign tries to deflect and detract, to minimize the failures, and to make this election about small shiny objects.
But this election matters more than that. It matters to your family.
It matters to the senior who needs to get an appointment with a medical specialist but is told by one receptionist after another that the doctor isn't taking any new Medicare patients, because Medicare has been slashed to pay for Obamacare.
It matters to the man from Waukesha, Wisconsin I spoke with several days ago. In what were supposed to be his best work years, he used to have a job at $25 an hour with benefits and now has one at $8 an hour, without benefits.
It matters to the college student, graduating this spring, with 10 to 20 thousand dollars in student debt, who now learns that she also will be paying for 50 thousand dollars in government debt, a burden that will put the American Dream beyond her reach.
It matters for the child in a failing school, unable to go to the school of his parent's choosing, because the teacher's union that funds the President's campaign opposes school choice.
The President's campaign has a slogan: it is "forward." But to the 23 million Americans struggling to find a good job, these last four years feel a lot more like "backward." We cannot afford four more years like the last four years.
This election is about big things--like the education of our children, the value of our homes, the take home pay from our jobs, the price of the gasoline we buy, and the choices we have in our healthcare. It is also about the big things that determine these things--like the growth of the economy, the strength of our military, our dependence on foreign oil, and America's leadership in the world.
President Obama frequently reminds us that he inherited a troubled economy. But a troubled economy is not all that President Obama inherited. He inherited the greatest nation in the history of the earth. He inherited the most productive and innovative nation in history. He inherited the largest economy in the world. And he inherited a people who have always risen to the occasion, regardless of the challenges they faced, so long as we have been led by men and women who have brought us together, called on our patriotism, and guided the nation with vision and conviction.
Despite all that he inherited, President Obama did not repair our economy, he did not save Medicare and Social Security, he did not tame the spending and borrowing, he did not reach across the aisle to bring us together. Nor did he stand up to China's trade practices, or deliver on his promise to re-make our relations with the Muslim world, where anti-American extremism is on the rise.
What he inherited wasn't the only problem; what he did with what he inherited made the problem worse.
In just four short years, he borrowed nearly $6 trillion, adding almost as much debt held by the public as all prior American presidents in history.
He forced through Obamacare, frightening small business from hiring new employees and adding thousands of dollars to every family's healthcare bill.
He launched an onslaught of new regulations, often to the delight of the biggest banks and corporations, but to the detriment of the small, growing businesses that create two-thirds of our jobs.
New business starts are at a 30-year low because entrepreneurs and investors are sitting on the sidelines, weary from the President's staggering new regulations and proposed massive tax increases.
Many families can't get mortgages and many entrepreneurs can't get loans because of Dodd-Frank regulations that make it harder for banks to lend.
The president invested taxpayer money--your money--in green companies, now failed, that met his fancy, and sometimes were owned by his largest campaign contributors. He spent billions of taxpayer dollars on investments like Solyndra, Tesla, Fisker, and Ener1, which only added to our mounting federal debt.
Energy prices are up in part because energy production on federal lands is down. He rejected the Keystone Pipeline from Canada, and cut in half drilling permits and leases, even as gasoline prices soared to new highs.
No, the problem with the Obama economy is not what he inherited; it is with the misguided policies that slowed the recovery, and caused millions of Americans to endure lengthy unemployment and poverty. That is why 15 million more of our fellow citizens are on food stamps than when President Obama was sworn into office. That is why 3 million more women are now living in poverty. That is why nearly 1 in 6 Americans today is poor. That is why the economy is stagnant.
Today, we received the latest round of discouraging economic news: Last quarter, our economy grew at just 2%. After the stimulus was passed, the White House promised the economy would now be growing at 4.3%, over twice as fast. Slow economic growth means slow job growth and declining take home pay. This is what four years of President Obama's policies have produced. Americans are ready for change--for growth, for jobs, for more take home pay.
We have had four presidential and vice-presidential debates. And there is nothing in what the President proposed or defended that has any prospect of meeting the challenges of the times. Raising taxes will not grow jobs or ignite the economy--in fact, his tax plan has been calculated to destroy 700,000 jobs. A new stimulus, three years after the recession officially ended, may spare government, but it will not stimulate the private sector any better than did the stimulus of four years ago. And cutting one trillion dollars from the military will kill jobs and devastate our national defense.
This is not the time to double down on the trickle-down government policies that have failed us; it is time for new bold changes that measure up to the moment, that can bring America's families the certainty that the future will be better than the past.
If Paul Ryan and I are elected as your president and vice president, we will endeavor with all our hearts and energy to restore America. Instead of more spending, more borrowing from China and higher taxes from Washington, we'll renew our faith in the power of free people pursuing their dreams. We'll start with our plan for a stronger middle class, which has five elements:
One, we will act to put America on track to a balanced budget by eliminating unnecessary programs, by sending programs back to states where they can be managed with less abuse and less cost, and by shrinking the bureaucracy of Washington.
Two, we'll produce more of the energy we need to heat our homes, fill our cars, and make our economy grow. We will stop the Obama war on coal, the disdain for oil, and the effort to crimp natural gas by federal regulation of the very technology that produces it. We will support nuclear and renewables, but phase out subsidies once an industry is on its feet. And rather than investing in new electric auto and solar companies, we will invest in energy science and research to make discoveries that can actually change our energy world. And by 2020, we will achieve North American energy independence.
Three, we will make trade work for America. We'll open more markets to American agriculture, products, and services. And we will finally hold accountable any nation that doesn't play by the rules. I will stand up for the rights and interests of American workers and employers.
Four, we will grow jobs by making America the best possible place for job creators, for entrepreneurs, for small business, for innovators, for manufacturers. This we will do by updating and reshaping regulations to encourage growth, by lowering tax rates while lowering deductions and closing loopholes, and by making it clear from day one that unlike the current administration, we actually like business and the jobs business creates.
Finally, as we create more opportunity, we also will make sure that our citizens have the skills to succeed. Training programs will be shaped by the states where people live, and schools will put the interests of our kids, their parents, and their teachers above the interests of the teachers' unions.
If we do those five things, our economy will come roaring back. We will create 12 million new jobs in just four years, raise take-home pay, and get the American economy growing at four percent a year—more than double this year's rate. After all the false promises of recovery and all the waiting, we will finally see help for America's middle class.
Paul and I won't stop there. When we take office, we will take responsibility to solve the big problems that everyone agrees can't wait any longer.
We will save and secure Medicare and Social Security, both for current and near retirees, and for the generation to come. We will restore the $716 billion President Obama has taken from Medicare to pay for his vaunted Obamacare.
We will reform healthcare to tame the growth in its cost, to provide for those with pre-existing conditions, and to assure that every American has access to healthcare. We will replace government choice with consumer choice, bringing the dynamics of the marketplace to a sector of our lives that has long been dominated by government.
These things among others we can only do if we work tirelessly to bridge the divide between the political parties. We will meet with Democrat and Republican leadership regularly, we will look for common ground and shared principles, and we will put the interests of the American people above the interests of the politicians.
I know something about leading because I've led before. In business, at the Olympics, and in Massachusetts, I've brought people together to achieve real change.
I was elected as a Republican governor in a state with a legislature that was 85% Democrat. We were looking at a multi-billion dollar budget gap. But instead of fighting with one another, we came together to solve our problems. We actually cut spending--reduced it. We lowered taxes 19 times. We defended school choice. And we worked to make our state business friendly.
Our state moved up 20 places in job growth. Our schools were ranked number one in the nation. And we turned a $3 billion budget deficit into a $2 billion rainy day fund.
I know it because I have seen it: Good Democrats can come together with good Republicans to solve big problems. What we need is leadership.
America is ready for that kind of leadership. Paul Ryan and I will provide it. Our plan for a stronger middle class will create jobs, stop the decline in take home pay, and put America back on the path of prosperity and opportunity. And this will enable us to fulfill our responsibility as the leader of the free world, to promote the principles of peace. We will help the Muslim world combat the spread of extremism; we will dissuade Iran from building a nuclear bomb; we will build enduring relationships throughout Latin America; and we will partner with China and other great nations to build a more stable and peaceful world.
We face big challenges. But we also have big opportunities. New doors are open for us to sell our ideas and our products to the entire world. New technologies offer the promise of unbounded information and limitless innovation. New ideas are changing lives and hearts in diverse nations and among diverse peoples. If we seize the moment and rise to the occasion, the century ahead will be an American Century.
Our children will graduate into jobs that are waiting for them. Our seniors will be confident that their retirement is secure. Our men and women will have good jobs and good pay and good benefits. And we will have every confidence that our lives are safe, and that our livelihoods are secure.
What this requires is change, change from the course of the last four years. It requires that we put aside the small and the petty, and demand the scale of change we deserve: we need real change, big change.
Our campaign is about that kind of change--confronting the problems that politicians have avoided for over a decade, revitalizing our competitive economy, modernizing our education, restoring our founding principles.
This is the kind of change that promises a better future, one shaped by men and women pursuing their dreams in their own unique ways.
This election is a choice between the status quo -- going forward with the same policies of the last four years -- or instead, choosing real change, change that offers promise, promise that the future will be better than the past.
If you are ready for that kind of change, if you want this to be a turning point in America's course, join Paul Ryan and me, get your family and friends to join us, and vote now for the kind of leadership that these times demand.
God bless you. And God bless America.
Back to Speeches from the 2012 Presidential Campaign


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G-8 Summit and Major Economies Leaders Meeting
Thank you all very much. We've just finished our meetings here in Japan. I would call them very productive.
Our goal was to make progress in five key areas: confronting climate change, reinforcing our commitment to a successful Doha agreement, fighting disease in Africa, ensuring that the G-8 nations are accountable for their commitments, and addressing the challenges of high food and energy prices. I'm pleased to report that we've had significant success in all of them.
On climate change, I want to thank the Prime Minister for hosting today's meeting of leaders from the world's major economies. In order to address climate change, all major economies must be at the table. And that's what took place today. The G-8 expressed our desire to have a significant reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. We made it clear and the other nations agreed that they must also participate in an ambitious goal, with interim goals and interim plans, to enable the world to successfully address climate change. And we made progress, significant progress, toward a comprehensive approach.
One way to meet objectives is to invest in technology, both at the national and international levels, both through the private and public sectors. And the United States, Japan, and United Kingdom launched what's called a clean technology fund, and we hope Congress funds that effort. It's a way to help developing nations afford the technologies so that they can become good stewards of the environment.
We're also taking steps to promote clean technologies by cooperating on research and development. You know, I firmly believe that we can become less dependent on oil through new technology, and obviously, we're going to have to spend some money on research and development to be able to achieve that objective.
On other matters, the G-8 leaders emphasized the critical importance of concluding a Doha round. We want the world to trade freely. We want to make sure markets are open for agricultural goods and manufacturing goods and services. We also recognize that the best way to help alleviate poverty is through trade. And so we had good discussions over the past couple of days about successfully completing the Doha round by the end of this year.
We also made some progress on alleviating sickness in Africa. The G-8 committed $60 billion over 5 years to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases. I'm also pleased to report the G-8 leaders pledged to provide 100 million long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets by 2010 to help deal with malaria. As you know, the United States has been in the forefront of trying to help nations eradicate malaria, and the G-8 nations stepped forward to support our efforts. And I appreciate that very much.
We also committed to—with partner nations in Africa to train new health care workers—can't solve health care problems unless there's health care workers on the ground. And the United States is involved with that. And finally, we are working to expand our efforts to treat key neglected tropical diseases, with the goal of reaching 75 percent of victims in the most affected countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America within 5 years. In other words, we had a comprehensive agenda on helping those who are being affected by disease live healthy lives.
I've always believed, to whom much is given, much is required. The nations sitting around the table have got much, and I think we're required to help those who don't. Pledges are important. Those have been—you know, oftentimes in the political process people talk big, but they never follow up. And so one of the key ingredients of these recent meetings was all of us need to be reminded that when we say we're going to do something, we got to do it. And so accountability is an important part of fulfilling our obligations.
We agreed to release detailed reports on our progress in meeting the commitments, breaking down our efforts, country by country, disease by disease. This, of course, will help ensure the G-8 initiatives are measurable and transparent so that we're held accountable for the promises we make.
And finally, we agreed on steps to deal with hunger and high energy prices. We agreed to meet short-term food needs by providing emergency food shipments and increasing access to fertilizer and seeds and encouraging other nations to eliminate their export restrictions. We also agreed on steps to relieve hunger in the longer term, including working to double production of key food staples in several African countries, accelerating access to new agricultural technology such as new seed varieties developed through biotechnology. We're also seeking to increase the amount of food aid supplied by local producers. In other words, instead of the United States just simply giving food, we ought to be buying food from local producers so that they can develop their own agricultural industries, so to help deal with food—world hunger.
We also agreed that on high energy prices—look, we got to deal with both on the supply and demand. On the supply side, oil and production refining capacity need to be increased. And the United States needs to do its part. The Democratic leaders in Congress will not allow us to explore for oil and gas in parts of Alaska, offshore America, and now is the time for them to change their mind. We also—I'm firmly—believe that we can do this kind of exploration in environmentally friendly ways.
On the demand side, we agreed to take new steps to increase energy efficiency, and we agreed that fuel subsidies that artificially inflate demand should be eliminated or reduced.
In other words, this was a—you know, a lot of meetings on important subjects, and we accomplished a lot. By protecting our environment and resisting protectionism and fighting disease and promoting development and improving the daily life for millions around the world, we serve both our interests as Americans, and we serve the interests of the world.
We've enjoyed our stay here in Japan. I want to thank the Prime Minister once again for his grand hospitality. And I appreciate you all covering this summit. Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 4:22 p.m. at the Windsor Hotel Toya Resort and Spa. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan.
George W. Bush, Remarks to the White House Press Pool in Toyako Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/277833


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Elevators move large numbers of people up and down each day, mostly without incident, thanks to a strongly developed system of safety measures and the work of highly trained and experienced professionals.
In performing elevator maintenance and repair, there are numerous technical factors, not to mention huge moral and legal issues. Workers need to fully understand proper maintenance procedures so that all safeguards remain in effect. It's also essential to be aware of applicable regulations, and to maintain compliance at all times.
For those serious about engaging in elevator work, the appropriate licenses must be acquired—an electrician's license and elevator mechanic's license. These are not achieved overnight.
This work covers everything a student or current technician needs to know to perform elevator diagnosis, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair, and details all the knowledge a technician must have to properly service elevators in various situations. It is also the only work that includes helpful questions and corresponding answers for those who are studying to obtain their elevator mechanic's license.


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"Emulating and Honoring Our Heavenly Parentage," Ensign, Feb. 2012, 80
Until We Meet Again
Emulating and Honoring Our Heavenly Parentage
Because having a pattern in our mind's eye helps us emulate heavenly practice, our wise Father provided His Son as our true pattern of following Him.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of emulation, taught Elder Douglas L. Callister, formerly of the Seventy. "One of the purposes of our earthly probation is to become like [our heavenly parents] in every conceivable way so that we may be comfortable in the presence of heavenly parentage." We emulate Them as we try to think, talk, act, and even look like Them (see Alma 5:14).1
As a graphic designer, I have to work in the many different artistic styles required by various clients. To do so, I have found value in having a pattern. Even though the client may explain the job and its desired result in great detail, I've found that it helps me to have an image to look at as I work. That pattern—even if it is only a mental one—reminds me of my goal and keeps me on a consistent track.
Likewise in our mortal probation, instructions alone are not always enough to communicate information or convey a new concept. We may need a picture or pattern in our mind's eye to help us emulate heavenly practice. Consequently, if we think of ourselves as God's children, desiring to return to Him, we are more likely to pattern our lives after Him and to strive for the qualities that are inherent in Him.2
Our wise Heavenly Father actually provided His Only Begotten Son as our true example of how to emulate Him. During the Savior's mortal ministry, He did the will of the Father, spending His time helping others. Similarly, when we emulate the Father and His Son, we use our gifts, talents, and intelligence to give service freely. As we serve, we honor our Father and He honors us by calling us to participate in building His kingdom.
Just as in graphic design, sometimes in life a visual, tangible pattern replaces a mental one. We often learn from the service of others. I still remember the first time as ward executive secretary that I couldn't completely fill the bishop's interview schedule. The bishop, however, reminded me that the Lord was in charge and He knew who needed to see the bishop that day—even if we didn't. And sure enough, every time we had this "problem," the phone would ring or someone would stop in to ask if the bishop had any time. And because of his inspired leadership, he did have time.
In addition to having the example of leaders, I was blessed with parents who exemplified kindness, hard work, support, honesty, and uprightness. Their examples were a pattern I could also follow, demonstrating for me the connection between emulating God and honoring our father and mother. The righteous example of our earthly parents is part of Heavenly Father's pattern, and by honoring them, we can learn the traits we need in order to live with our Heavenly Father again. And as we become part of the righteous pattern of our children's lives, we can help further His plan and complete His pattern of parenting by bringing not only ourselves but also our eternal families back to Him.


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Milford Book Group
Thursday March 26th 2020
When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she's decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls—beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard—has disappeared.
A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she's not the only one who can't forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters—letters that make her fear for her life.
Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna's friends and family might have something to hide. Anna's best friend, Sarah, hasn't been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night—and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own.
Someone knows where Anna is—and they're not telling. But they are watching Ella.


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LIVE @ Beach Bar St.John - Virgin Islands
Live webcam directly from a stage offered by the famous Beach Bar St. John, which is located on the west coast...
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Bill Allombert on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:23:21 +0100 |
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New elldata package update (conductor up to 200000) |
Hello PARI users, This month, elldata is reaching conductor 200000. I have updated the optionnal PARI package elldata to the latest version of J. E. Cremona Elliptic Curve Data <http://www.warwick.ac.uk/staff/J.E.Cremona/ftp/data/INDEX.html> This package contains elliptic curves defined over the rationals representing all isogeny classes for all conductor at most 200000. Theses data are needed by ellsearch and ellidentify and require PARI/GP 2.2.11 and up. The package can be downloaded from <http://pari.math.u-bordeaux.fr/packages.html> Thanks to John for providing the new curves! Cheers, Bill.


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Pizza 'n Paint !
September 23, 2017- Balloon Landscape Paint on canvas session for ages 6 and up. $35 includes 3 hours of fun, creativity, and all the materials to create this masterpiece! Pizza and drinks included as well!! Register by September 17th to get $10 discount per entry. Siblings get $5 discount. (At full price only) All discounts are applied at checkout. No refunds for no-shows or for cancellations less than 24 hours in advance. |
Venue : Ranch House @ Power Ranch 4444 E Haven Crest Dr. Gilbert, AZ 85297 Date : September 23, 2017 Time : 3pm - 6pm |